Vertical retort zinc-smelting furnace



A. JONES.

VERTICAL mom ZINC SMELTING fuRNAcE.

APPLICATION FILED TEU. 19, lI. Lgg, Patfned A110. 8, 1922,

3 SHEETS wSflET l.

A. ONES.

vERHcAL REToRT ZINC SME'LTING FURNACE.

'APPLICATION FILED FEB-19,1921. 15,42%,82 Patentedug. 8, i922,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. JONES.

VERTICAL RETORT ZINC SIVIELTING FURNACE.

APILICATION FILED FEB. I9, IUZI.

Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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vnnrrcan anronr zinc-summiere renuncie.

To all whom t may concern."

Be it known that I, ARCHIBALD JONES, a citizen of the United States, andvresidentv of Pittsburgh, in the county.l ofAlle'gheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVertical Retort ZincfSmelting Furnaces', of which the following is aspecification.I

This invention relatesl to smelting fur.- naces, and more' particularlyto zinc smelting furnaces, and has for one of its objects` the provisionof a smelting furnace having Another Objectis toprovide a smeltingfurnace having a singleixed condenser built into the furnacefbody andadapted to serve of ',retorts, thereby providing a condenser that'willkeep the zinc hot'and j also `willbe of sufficient length to condensepractically all of the z inc fumes. y

Another object is toprovide'a zinc smelting furnace havingretorts thatVmay be cleaned and lcharged without the necessity ofremoving thecondensers, as has been the practice in zinc smelting furnaces 'hereto-Yore.

Another object is to provide al furnace having condenser-s that areparticularly adapted for the use of vfilters in connection therewith,since such condensers are fixed in position, and there-fare a lessernumber of condensers than heretofore.

A further robject is to provide an .im-l

proved mechanismffor charging and cleanin out theretorts.

hese and other objects and advantages will be more fully brought out inthe following specification and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which-:

Figure lI is a side elevation of' a smelting furnace constructed inaccordance with my invention, and having a portion of the side wallremoved to show they interior construc-` tion. l

Figure 2 is a top plan of the smelt-ing furnace partly in section, thesection being taken on 'the line ll--lll of Figure 1. l Figure 3 is asectional end elevation on the line ille-lll of Figure 2. Referringparticularly to the drawings, the smelting furnace illustrated thereinhas side walls 2, and to and bottom walls 3 and 4 respectively. ahefurnace is provided at one end with stacks 5 and 5', which are adaptedto carry ott1 tht` products of oomdenser serves two rows of recesses 8and Specification of Letters Ilatent.V Patented Aug S- 922 Applicationled Februaryf'w, y1921i.` Serial No. 6,415.' i i i bustion, while` theopposite lend ctn-lvergves, forming a constrlcted-y or-nar'row fuelpassage 6,'opening-Vintey the body ot-thefurnace. i Y

p The furnacev chamber isfdividedin "two sections by -a 'longitudinallyextendingwall 7 which also serves asa thetopwall. i

'I he top wall?, is provided'with a plurahty of substantiallyrectangular depresslons or recesses 8 arranged 1n' transverse rowsacross the furnace, two of suchrecesses being shownon each side of thewall 7, in

the construction ofthe' drawings. The re-k cesses or depressions 8 areadapted .to be"A closed by. removable covers 9, and have their lowerwalls apertured for the. reception 'of the l upper .endof the verticalretorts 10.

The bottom wall 4 of the furnace is providedkwith transverse rows ofapertures 11 1n line with the apertures in the opening through'thebottom wall ofthe recesses' 8.

,The yapertures 11 flare outwardly from their center toward bothends,andthe'lower ends of the retorts 10 are fitted therein so that ytheirlower ends are supported onl theside `walls of the apertures 11 abovetheir center.

A fixed condenser or condensing chamber 13 is built into the top wall 3between eachl two rowsof the recesses or depressions 8 and extends fromthe'w'all 7 outwardly and vopens through the .side walls 2. Thecondensers 13 are" builty integral with the top wall 3 and `entend belowthe'plane of the bottom yof the 'top 'wall into the furnace chamber andare inclined downwardly to ward their outer ends so that vthezinccondensed therein will run by gravity to' then be dischargedthroughv the open end thereo.v

Suitable ports or passages 15 are formed between the recesses ordepressions 8 and the abutting condenser-13 so'that one lcollit eretorts. 10 which open into the recesses. As shown in the drawings, eachcondenser serves eight retorts` rlhe conde-risers may be provided with asuitable lining 16 semi-circular in cross section, if desired, to form asuitable surface over which the condensed metallic zinc will run.

The retorts 10 are sealed against coinmunication with v the furnacechamber at` their upper ends with clay or similar material as at 17, andat their lower ends with center support *for 7e ,i1 l

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ree

lill@ clay, sand' or other similar material-as at 18, to prevent air orother gases from the furnace chamber entering the retorts.

rlhe lower ends of the retorts are closed by removable cone-shaped plugs19 composed of a metal base 20 and a .clay top 2l. The plugs 1-9 areeach supported and operated by a suitablelever mechanism, hung from thebottom wall 4 of the furnace which comprises a lever 22 pivotally hung,by one end, from a suitable beam secured to the bottom wall of thefurnace, a plug lever 23 of considerably shorter length than the lever22,

, which is pivotally secured by one end to the.

center of the metal base 2() of the plug 19, and a counterweight lever24 havingl one end pivotally connected to the plug lever 23,

and pivotally secured intermediate its ends to the lever22. A suitableweight 25 is securedto the other or free end of the lever 24 andnormally serves to hold the plug 19 seated within the retort 10.

yso

tent.

The plugs 19 are of such-size that they extend into the retortssufficiently so that their upper faces will be in'substantially the sameplane as the bottom of the furnace chamber, in this way forming a bottomfor the retorts that is in the same plane as the bottom of the furnacechamber, and thereby keeping the charge within the retorts above thefurnace bottom so that it will all be heated suiiiciently to remove theentire zinc con- 27 will be wrapped on the shaft,thereby liftthe ing thelevers 24 and weights 25, rocking own leversl 24 on the levers 22, andpulling the levers 23 and'plugs 19 for allv the retorts list in the rowserved by the shaft.

Removable condensers 31 are adapted to be telescopically engaged withinthe. outer end of the fixed condensers 13 to condense any of the zincgases or fumes not condensed within the condensers 13.

Air for supporting combustion within the furnace chamber is suppliedv bysuitable air ymams 32 on each side of the furnace chamber and havingbranches 33 entering the chamber. v

An overhead charging crane 35- is mounted to moveplongitudinally 'ofthe, furnace-on a traclr34 andis provided with suitable bins l' l36 forholdin the ores to be sinelted. A

plurality ofc arging buckets 37 are pivotrai-24525 to close the spoutsfrom the bin 36 as the buckets 37 are dumped to charge their load.

A craIie buggy 41, mounted on the tracks 42 on crane 35 to movetransversely of the furnace, carries a suitable tool 43 for pushing out.the residue from the retorts 10 if it 'should stick. The tool 43 alsois provided with hooks 44 for lifting the closures 9 over the recessesor depressions 8.

Suitable tools may be substituted for th tool 43 if desired for removingand replacing the retorts 10 when they are broken. l

In case the charge of ores is too fine and dense for the free escape ofgases from the retort, it should be briquetted, the briquettes brokenand the. broken briquettes charged. Smelting begins at the walls of theretort and Works toward the center and therefore a porous core willremain in the retort until all of the zinc has been extracted.

Filters may be attached to the removable condensers 3l for removing anysolid matter from the gases since there are a lesser number ofcondensers-than heretofore used and also the condensers are not takendown for v`charging and cleaning out the retorts.

Heretofore the use of lfilters has been considered impractical sincethey had to be taken down daily to permit of the removalv `of thecondensers in order to clean out and charge the retorts. 'l

roc

It will be apparent that this form of zinc j smelter willl have manyadvantages over the usual retort smelter. The labor necessary forscraping out and lling the usual retorts is` eliminated, the condenserbeing built into the furnace will A*keep the zinc fume hot so that itwill condense as liquid zinc instead of blue powder, the necessity ofremoving the condensers in cleaning and charging the retorts iseliminated, the condensers are of lsuiicient length to condense all ofthe zinc fumes, andthe number of condensers is greatly reduced since onecondenser serves eight retorts where heretofore the practice has been tohave a separate condenser for each retort.

Other advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilledinthe art to which this invention ap rtains, and as it is sus? ceptibleof a num er of modifications without departing from the spirit of theinvention, no limltations, 'other than those expressly included in theappended claims are to be imposed. v

i I claim:

1. A smelting furnace comprising a furnace chamber, a plurality 'ofvertical retorts arranged in rows in said chamber, and a 4fixedcondenser arranged between two rows Miti rae

' ias rec igea-,eee

of said vertical retorts and communicating with each of said retorts insaid rows.

2. A zinc smelter comprising a furnace chamber, a plurality of verticalretorts arranged in said chamber, said retorts being sealed fromcommunication with said chamber, and a single fixed condenser builtwith-l in said furnace chamber and adapted to serve a plurality of saidretorts.

8. A Zinc sinelting furnace comprising a furnace chamber having its topand bottom walls apertured for the reception of a plurality of verticalretorts, said retorts being sealed from communication with said furnacechamber, and a plurality of fixed con.- densers built into said furnacechamber, each of said condensers being arranged to receive the zincgases from a plurality of said retorts.

4f. A zinc smelting furnace comprising a. furnace chamber having its topand bottom walls apertured for the reception of a plurality of verticalretorts, said retorts being arranged in rows and sealed againstcommunication with said furnace chamber, a plurality of fixed condensersbuilt into said furnace chamber, one of said condensers being arrangedbetween each two rows of said retorts and communicating with the retortsof said rows to receive the zinc gases therefrom, and means for closingthe ends of said retorts.

5. A zinc smelting furnace comprising a furnace chamber having its topand bottom walls apertured for the reception of a plurality of verticalretorts, said retorts being arranged in rows and sealed againstcommunication with said furnace chamber, a'

plurality of fixed condensers built into said furnace chamber, one ofsaid condensers bei arranged in rows and sealed against coin-`munication with said furnace chamber, a plurality of fixed condensersbuilt into said furnace chamber, one of said condensers being arrangedbetween each two rows of said retorts and communicating with the retortsof said rows to receive the Zinc gases therefrom., and a removablecondenser telescopically engaged within said fixedondensers, and meansfor closing the ends of said retorts.

ln testimony whereof` l have hereunto signed my naine.

ARCHIBALD JNES,

